H O OV E R I N S T I T U T I O N

Newsletter
Summer 2006

SOCIETY OF LABOR ECONOMISTS HONORS EDWARD LAZEAR, 3

NAMED FELLOWS

HOOVER STUDIES SERIES BOOKS ARE

WINNING PLANS FOR POLICY DISCUSSION

Author and columnist David Brooks discusses the Republican Party and American politics during the spring retreat.
Photo by Steve Gladfelter/Visual Art Services

POWER, POLITICS ARE

THEMES OF SPRING RETREAT

ew York Times columnist and author David Brooks discussed Whats Happening to the Republican Party in his talk at the opening dinner of the 2006 Hoover Spring Retreat on April 30. Brooks said he believes that the differences between entrenched Washington, D. C., policy wonks and elected conservatives from other parts of the country have made it difficult for them to work with one another. President George W. Bush has many good ideas, continued on page 8

dward Lazear, chairman of the presidents Council of Economic Advisers and the Morris Arnold Cox Senior Fellow on leave, is the recipient of the 2006 Society of Labor Economists Jacob Mincer Prize honoring lifetime achievements in the field of labor economics. At the same meeting of the society, during May 5 and 6, three Hoover senior fellowsRobert Hall, Eric Hanushek, and Thomas MaCurdy were among the fellows elected. By granting them the honorary title of fellow, the society recognizes labor economists who have made contributions of unusual distinction to the field. We are proud that the Society of Labor Economists has honored these four Hoover fellows for their exemplary achievements, said Hoover director John Raisian. I have always felt that Hoover is very strong in the areas of labor market analysis and the importance of human capital accumulation in society. These scholars have distinguished themselves over the years, and it is gratifying to have the society recognize their contributions. Lazear is the Jack Steele Parker Professor of Human Resources, Management and Economics at Stanford Universitys continued on page 5

hen Hoover director John Raisian and fellows Peter Berkowitz and Tod Lindberg analyzed the possibilities, they knew they had a winning plan with which to share good ideas in policy. The plan started with the essay Power and Weakness, by Robert Kagan, in Hoovers own Policy Review journal, which Lindberg edits, in June/July 2002. The piece was expanded by Kagan into a short book that became a best seller for a major U.S. publishing house. What Raisian, Berkowitz, and Lindberg discoveredhaving successfully developed a powerful but modestlength essay into a moderate-sized book that led to heated and healthy discussion around the worldwas a new niche for publishing at the Hoover continued on page 4

I N S I D E

HERBERT HOOVER IN POLAND EXHIBIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 FELLOWS COLLABORATE ON STANFORD GLOBAL ISSUES PROJECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Q&A: STEPHEN HABER
ON THE IMMIGRATION WAVE FROM

The very

latest HOOVER news

MEXICO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

updated daily news, features, people, and events at the Hoover Institution atwww.hoover.org

HERBERT HOOVER IN POLAND

EXHIBIT SHOWCASES COMMITMENT TO POLAND AND ITS PEOPLE

he acclaimed exhibit Herbert Hoover in Poland: Pioneer Humanitarian at Work, which toured Poland in 2004 and 2005, showcases rare photographs, documents, posters, and footage illustrating Herbert Hoovers commitment to the survival and well-being of Poland. The exhibit, which will be at the Hoover Institution until August 26, dramatically illustrates the means by which Hoover fulfilled his commitment to Poland during the early twentieth century, when famine threatened that countrys population. Guests at an opening reception on May 31 were welcomed by John Raisian, director of the Hoover Institution. Other speakers were Maciej Siekierski, curator of the East European Collection, who discussed the development of the exhibit, and Zbigniew Stanczyk, library specialist of the East European Collection. The former president of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski, who was in residence at Hoover as the Tad and Dianne Taube Distinguished Visiting Fellow, was among the guests at the reception. The exhibition and accompanying catalog were made possible through the support of the Taube Family Foundation and Henrietta Fankhauser, with assistance from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa. During and after World War I, Hoover directed the largest relief operation ever mounted in Europe, during which millions of Europeans were saved from starvation and death. In the first months of 1919, tens of thousands of railcars full of food sent from the United States left Gdansk on their way to Polish cities. Within six months, more than $50 million worth

Former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski, center, meets with Hoover overseer Tad Taube, left, and East European library specialist Zbigniew Stanczyk at the exhibit opening.

of food had been delivered. In 1919 alone, the program fed more than 1.5 million children. After 1920, Hoover increased that number to two million and expanded the number of kitchens to ten thousand. For almost four years following the war, half a billion meals were fed to the hungry and starving of Poland. During World War II, Hoover led another organization, the Commission for Polish Relief, which again alleviated the sufferings of hundreds of thousands of Polish people. After the war, in 1946, Hoover visited Poland and drafted yet another relief plan. For the next thirty years Poles benefited from that assistance. The exhibit is open to the public in the Herbert Hoover Memorial Exhibit Pavilion, next to Hoover Tower, and is free of charge. Pavilion hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. More information is available at www.hoover.org/hila/pavilionexhibit.htm or by telephoning 650-723-3563.

HOOVER FELLOWS JOIN STANFORD COLLABORATION TO IDENTIFY AND RESPOND TO GLOBAL ISSUES

hy are the countries of the world, for the most part, divided between rich, democratic states and poor, authoritative states? How is it that some countries have successfully implemented free market concepts, whereas others have tried and failed? These are some of the questions being studied by Hoover fellows Stephen Haber, Herbert Klein, and Barry Weingast as part of a campuswide collaboration at Stanford University to identify and respond to global issues. Their research is being funded by grants from Stanford Universitys Presidential Fund for Innovation in International Studies. The Presidential Fund grants create opportunities for faculty from different disciplines at Stanford University to
2

collaborate on research and teaching on issues of global significance. Weingast, a Hoover senior fellow and the Ward C. Krebs Family Professor in Stanford Universitys political science department, noted that one of the benefits of working with others is that each participant brings a different perspective. The problem with development is that its not simply an economic problem, simply a political problem, or simply a social problem, he said, its a little of each. Because disciplines are organized separately, researchers tend to concentrate on their own pieces, he pointed out. Solving this problem requires interaction of an interdisciplinary group, he said. The Presidential Fund grants are the result of a process that began in 2004. In April of that year Stanford provost John continued on page 4

Robert Conquest honored for scholarship on Ukraine

Hoover research fellow Robert Conquest, center, was honored with Ukraines Medal of Iaroslav Mudryi on June 15 for his pathbreaking scholarship on the Ukrainian famine of 193233 in his book Harvest of Sorrow (1986). Joining Conquest at the ceremony were Oleh Shamshur, left, ambassador from Ukraine to the United States, and Conquests colleague Hoover senior fellow John Dunlop, whose work also focuses on Russia.
Photo by Zbigniew Stanczyk

Bigadier General Mark T. Kimmitt, deputy director of plans for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), on May 23 met with Hoover fellows and addressed the future of counterterror operations in the Middle East and outlined the principles behind CENTCOMs military strategy and organization in the region.

Major General Gerald Minetti, director of CENTCOM, visited Hoover on May 9. He offered the militarys insight and perspective on Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and the global war on terror. CENTCOM has responsibility for military operations in twenty-seven countries.

Deputy Secretary of the United States Treasury Robert Kimmitt visited the Hoover Institution on Friday, May 5. He was the guest of honor at a roundtable discussion with Hoover fellows.

Liechtensteins Prince Alois, above, and its Ambassador to the U.S. Claudia Fritsche met with Hoovers George P. Shultz, the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow, on May 31.

Li Junru, vice president of the Chinese Communist Central Party School, visited the Hoover Institution on Friday, April 21. He met with Hoover scholars to discuss political trends in contemporary China.

hile the objective of homeland security is clear, the road map is not, said National Security Affairs fellow Scott F. Smith, U.S. Air Force, who discussed the issue in the seminar A House Divided: Our Bifurcated National Security on April 6. Following 9/11, new strategies and organizations, such as the Department of Homeland Security and the National Response Plan, were developed to enhance the domestic mission of national security, Smith pointed out. Despite these changes, Smith said, the nations conceptual and operational approach lacks an embrace of a

NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS FELLOWS PRESENT RESEARCH SEMINARS

wartime mission, which limits both efficient and effective levels of security. Other National Security Affairs fellows completing a year at the Hoover Institution and their seminar topics were Brian K. Buckles, with the U.S. Marine Corps, Coming Ashore: The Future of Amphibious Warfare, on March 23; Jim Fanell, with the U.S. Navy, Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN): Out from the First Island Chain? on March 30; and Jonathan duced by Hoover fellows and others, said Tod Lindberg. The idea was and is to appeal to readers on the basis of good research and well-defined concepts and proposals. We aim these books at journalists and academics and policy makers, including businesspeople. The idea is that, in time it takes to fly from one city to another, on, say, a business trip, the reader can dive into a book, spend some focused time reading material that is well written but not too technical, and land having learned a lot about a topic or issue or idea. The books in the series are copublished with Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, which has a solid track record in the area of book marketing and distribution. Books in the series to date include I Warrant for Terror: The Fatwas of Radical Islam and the Duty to Jihad, Moore, U.S. State Department, The State Departments New Skills and New Challenges: Defining Transformational Diplomacy, on April 20. The National Security Affairs Fellows Program allows military personnel to pursue intensive, independent research on topics relevant to their service careers during an academic year spent in research and study at the Hoover Institution.

HOOVER STUDIES SERIES BOOKS

continued from page 1 Institution. Early on, the project was nicknamed small books. After several years, these so-called small books (no more than 250 pages each) have come to comprise a growing body of solid work devoted to timely topics in politics and economics being pursued by Hoover fellows and the Hoover Institution. The new project was launched under the rubric of Hoover Studies in Politics, Economics, and Societythe Hoover Studies series, for shortwith Berkowitz and Lindberg serving as general editors. John Raisian was anxious to reach busy people with the good ideas pro-

by Shmuel Bar I Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship Is Poisoning the House of Representatives, by Juliet Eilperin I Uncertain Shield: The U.S. Intelligence System in the Throes of Reform, by Richard Posner Lindberg said that the Hoover Studies series books under development are on such topics as the United Nations, the U.S. judicial system, U.S. welfare policy, and U.S. foreign policy regarding the promotion of democracy in the Middle East and elsewhere. Further information about books in the Hoover Studies Series is available from the Hoover Institution Press at 1-800-935-8626 or www.hooverpress.org

COLLABORATION ON GLOBAL ISSUES

continued from page 2 Etchemendy announced what would become the International Initiative, an effort to tap into the expertise of faculty in identifying and addressing issues of global importance. Under the leadership of Coit Blacker, director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and Elisabeth Pate-Cornell, management science and engineering professor and a senior fellow with FSI, a steering committee for the International Initiative established three broad crosscutting themes for research: Pursuing Security in an Insecure
4

World, Reforming and Improving Governance at All Levels of Society, and Advancing Human Well-Being. In October 2005 FSI posted a call for grant proposals that included each theme of the International Initiative and called for an interdisciplinary approach to the research. Of eight grants awarded by the Presidential Fund, two went to projects being participated in by Hoover fellows: Governance under Authoritarian Rules and Evaluating Institutional Responses to Market Liberalization: Why Latin America Was Left Behind. Stephen H. Haber is the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at Hoover. Herbert Klein is a Hoover research fellow.

JACOB MINCER PRIZE; THREE FELLOWS

continued from page 1 Graduate School of Business. He taught previously at the University of Chicagos Graduate School of Business, where he was the Brown Professor of Urban and Labor Economics. Founding editor of the Journal of Labor Economics, he is also an e l e c t e d fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Scie n c e s (2000), the Econometric Edward Lazear Society, and the Society of Labor Economists. He is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Board on Testing and Assessment. His book Personnel Economics (MIT Press, 1995) expands on his 1993 Wicksell Lecture. Lazears newest edited volume is Education in the Twenty-first Century (Hoover Institution Press, 2002).

The Mincer Prize is awarded annually to two social scientists in recognition of their contributions. The other winner is Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University. Hoover fellow Robert Hall holds a joint position endowed by Robert and Carole McNeil as a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor in the economics department at Stanford University. He is a member of the Na-

nomic Research, and a member of the Koret Task Force on K12 Education. In 2004, he was appointed as a member of the National Board for Education Sciences for a two-year term. He was recently appointed to the California governors Advisory Committee on Education Excellence. Thomas MaCurdy holds a joint appointment as the Dean Witter Senior Fellow at Hoover and a professor of

Robert Hall

Eric Hanushek

Thomas MaCurdy

tional Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Econometric Society. Hall, an active proponent of the flat tax, cowrote The Flat Tax (Hoover Institution Press, 1985 and 1995). Eric Hanushek is the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at Hoover. He is also chairman of the Executive Committee for the Texas Schools Project at the University of Texas at Dallas, a research associate of the National Bureau of Eco-

economics at Stanford University. He is also a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research, an adjunct fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. The Society of Labor Economists was founded in 1996 to promote the study of labor economics and to make more significant the contribution of labor economics and labor economists.

HOOVER MEDIA FELLOWS PROGRAM OFFERS ACCESS TO RESEARCH, SCHOLARS

he William C. and Barbara H. Edwards Media Fellows Program allows print and broadcast media professionals to spend time in residence at the Hoover Institution. Media fellows have the opportunity to exchange information and perspectives with Hoover scholars through seminars and informal meetings and with the Hoover and Stanford communities in public lectures. As fellows, they have access to the full range of research tools that Hoover offers. More than 100 of the nations top journalists have visited

the Hoover Institution recently and interacted with Hoover fellows on key public policy issues, including Scott Higham, Washington Post, May 15 Andrew Nagorski, Newsweek, May 812 Greg Sangillo, National Journal, May 812 Tom Edsall, Washington Post, May 812 David Kaplan, Newsweek, May 1519 David Plotz, Slate.com, May 29June 2 Robert Draper, Gentlemans Quarterly, June 59 Elizabeth Bumiller, New York Times, June 59 Joyce Murdoch, National Journal, July 2428 Deb Price, Detroit News, July 2428 Tom Bethell, freelance, August 15September 8 Griffin Smith, Arkansas Democrat, August 2125
5

Q&A
WAVES WASHING OVER
THE BORDER
FELLOW

Stephen Haber Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution; A. A. and Jeanne Welch Milligan Professor in the School of Humanities and Science and director of the Social Science History Institute at Stanford University. Also a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, a senior fellow at the Center for International Development, and a research economist at the National Bureau of Economic Research. The relationship between political organization and economic growth, with most research focused on Latin America, particularly Mexico and Brazil The Politics of Property Rights: Political Instability, Credible Commitments, and Economic Growth in Mexico (Cambridge University Press, 2003); The Mexican Economy, 18701930: Essays on the Economic History of Institutions, Revolution, and Growth (Stanford University Press, 2002); Crony Capitalism and Economic Growth in Latin America (Hoover Press, 2002); Political Institutions and Economic Growth in Latin America (Hoover Press, 2000); How Latin America Fell Behind: Essays on the Economic Histories of Brazil and Mexico, 18001914 (Stanford University Press, 1997); Industry and Underdevelopment: The Industrialization of Mexico, 18901940 (Stanford University Press, 1989). He is also the author of numerous articles on Latin American political economy. American Association of Political Science, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and the Association of Iranian Studies Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles ty than it is for Americas economy or cultural integrity. Q: Youve noted that there are also a number of fine points to be considered. A: Those who favor a "soft line" on Mexican immigration often simultaneously argue that Mexican workers make American industry more internationally competitive and that Mexican workers do not reduce the wages of U.S.-born workers. Both statements could simultaneously be true if Mexican immigrants included large numbers of highly educated electrical engineers and molecular biologists who had a tremendously positive effect on American total factor productivity. But Mexican immigrants tend to have very low levels of education by U.S. standards; they also tend to

TITLE

RESEARCH

PUBLICATIONS

Q: What policy should America adopt toward illegal immigrants from Mexico? Youve done quite a bit of work on this issue, and its not one that can be easily solved or will go away. What are the perspectives and issues at stake in this discussion? A: One view is that illegal immigrants drive down the wages of American workers, burden taxpayers, and undermine the integrity of American culture. That view is embodied in the recent immigration bill passed by the House of Representatives: it seeks to seal off the border and treat immigrants who are already here as felons. Q: But there is also a positive view of this immigration, isnt there? A: A second view is that Mexican immigrants increase the competitiveness of the United States economy. That view is embodied in the draft legislation in the Senate that would make it possible for illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. for more than five years to obtain a visa and eventually citizenshipprovided they learn English. The Senate bill also contains provisions for workers who have been here for less than five years to either
6

AFFILIATIONS

DEGREES

obtain a green card or become a guest worker, after they return to Mexico and make the necessary applications. Q: But there is more to this issue. Could you discuss this? A: Any serious attempt at reform needs to take account of facts regarding illegal immigrants that are often given a back seat to ideology by partisans on either side of the debate. Any serious attempt at immigration reform also needs to take account of facts about Mexicos fragile economy and democracyfacts that both sides in the debate have tended to miss entirely. Indeed, most discussion about immigration reform implicitly assumes that its effects stop at the border. The truth is that our immigration policy is more consequential for what happens to Mexicos political and social stabili-

Q&A
cluster in industries that produce goods that do not enter into international trade, such as restaurant meals, home construction, landscaping, and janitorial services. Q: So it looks as though the effects of immigration from Mexico are not severe. A: The overall effect of Mexican immigration on the U.S. economy overall is trivial. However, to the degree that Mexican immigration makes some industries more internationally competitive, it does so by reducing the wages of the U.S.-born workers in those industries. And this reduction is not trivial. Careful research done by Harvard Universitys George Borjas indicates that Mexican immigration has caused a 7 percent decline in the wages of U.S.-born high school dropouts and a 1 percent decline in the wages of workers with only a high school diploma. Score one for the hard-liners on immigration. Q: So it would seem to be a good idea to take a hard line? A: Hard-liners, however, have it wrong about the social and cultural impact of immigration on the U.S. They tend to look at recent immigrants and decry their low levels of education, difficulties with the English language, and propensity to choose marriage partners from their own immigrant group. They tend to ignore that every other largescale immigrant group in the history of the U.S.Poles, Italians, Irish, Eastern European Jewshad many of the exact same social and cultural characteristics. Q: So we do have a track record on how immigration works out over the long term. A: Correct. The impact of immigration on American culture is not determined by what immigrants do, but by what their children and grandchildren do. Here the evidence is unambiguous: The children and grandchildren of Mexican immigrants assimilate and move up the income ladder. Meticulous research by James Smith at the Rand Corporation demonstrates that second- and thirdgeneration Mexican Americans quickly overcome the educational deficit faced by their immigrant parents and grandparents. As a result, they do not constitute a permanent economic underclass; they have been steadily narrowing the income gap with native-born whites. Nor do they constitute a social and cultural group independent of mainstream America. The reason is clear: 80 percent of third-generation Mexican Americans cannot speak Spanish. Score one for the soft-liners on immigration. Q: So both sides have good points to make. A: And yet both sides in the immigration debate have it wrong when it comes to one core assumptionthat Mexican immigration is only a domestic policy issue. What we choose to do will have serious ramifications for Mexico. To understand why, we need to take into account that the large-scale immigration of Mexicans to the U.S. is a recent phenomenon. Until the 1980s, Mexicans migrated to the U.S. at very modest rateson the order of 50,000 people per year. In the 1980s it surged to roughly 200,000 people per year, and in the 1990s it went through the roof, averaging 500,000 people per year. The reason is that the Mexican economy collapsed in the early 1980s, and since then Mexicos per capita GDP, adjusted for inflation, has grown at a staggeringly slow 0.7 percent per year, less than one-third the U.S. rate. There is little reason to think that the Mexican economy will recover any time soon. Indeed, all of the fundamentals, most particularly the preference of foreign multinational companies to site new facilities in China instead of in Mexico, point toward continued slow growth. Q: What would happen to Mexico if we were to suddenly cut off the escape valve provided by immigration to the U.S.? A: Unemployment and underemployment, already major problems, would increase dramatically in Mexico. Remissions from immigrants, which total some $18 billion per year and are the lifeblood of many rural communities, would dry up. The widespread frustration felt by the population caught between rising crime and diminished economic expectationswhich fuels the populist presidential campaign of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador would almost certainly become more acute. There is no scenario in which these developments would be positive for Mexican political and social stability. And there is no scenario in which a politically and socially unstable Mexico is in the interest of the U.S.

HOOVER INSTITUTION WEBSITES www.hoover.org Comprehensive information about the Institution, its fellows, work, scholarly output, and outreach www.hooverdigest.org Quarterly Hoover Digest available online www.educationnext.org Presents the facts about education reform, gives voicewithout fear or favorto worthy research, sound ideas, and responsible arguments. www.policyreview.org Is the preeminent publication for new and serious thinking and writing about the issues of our day. At this site, find select articles from the current issue as well as an archive of back issues, subscription information, and useful links to other websites. www.chinaleadershipmonitor.org Seeks to inform the American foreign policy community about current trends in Chinas leadership politics and in its foreign and domestic policies.

HOOVER INSTITUTION NEWSLETTER The Hoover Institution Newsletter is published quarterly and distributed by the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-6010, 650/7230603, fax, 650/725-8611. 2006 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Send comments and requests for information to Newsletter Editor Michele M. Horaney, APR, Manager of Public Affairs. Staff: Public Affairs Writer: LaNor Maune, Newsletter Production: Wm Freeman, Stanford Design Group. The Hoover Institution Home Page is on the World Wide Web at www.hoover.org. The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University, founded in 1919 by Herbert Hoover, is one of the leading centers in the world devoted to interdisciplinary scholarship in domestic and international affairs.

O A R D

O F

V E R S E E R S

POWER, POLITICS ARE

THEMES OF SPRING RETREAT
continued from page 1 he said, but there are problems, not only with the war, where mistakes have been made, but with domestic policy. The president, he believes, has never learned to engage the people in Washington, D.C., who exercise authority. So there is a problem of translating ideas into policies that work that has been one of the biggest problems for the conservatives, Brooks said. These are failures of government, not ideas. He concluded Hoover senior fellows, from left, Michael Boskin, John Cogan, John Shoven, by saying that he believes that the Republican and John Taylor discussed U.S. domestic policy. Party is intellectually strong. world, in his thought-provoking talk Promoting DemocWelcoming remarks were made by John Raisian, Hoover racy: Should We? Can We? director, and Peter Bedford, Hoover board chairman. In Traffic Jams, Slang, and the Value of Your House: The In Earthly Powers and Sacred Causes: Godless Europe? Economics of Intended and Unintended Consequences, British historian and author Michael Burleigh noted in Hoover research fellow Russell Roberts explained why remarks at dinner on May 1 that politics and religion have public policy doesnt always turn out as expected. The funlong been contentious in Europe. He lauded the advantage of damental reason, Roberts said, is a misunderstanding of a separation of church and state in the United States but cauthe process that creates the problem. tioned about the growing complication of rising Islamic Fox News reporter Major Garrett asked the question Are extremism around the world. He said he believes the virtues Democrats Primed for a Revolution Like the GOP Revoluof Western civilizations need to be reinforced in education tion of 94? In his remarks he noted that in the upcoming and in daily life. election the Democrats need 15 seats in the House of RepreBurleigh specializes in the history of Europe since 1789, sentatives to regain control. especially the history of ideas, politics, and religion. He also We live in an instant world, Stephen Bainbridge said, studies the psychology and culture of terrorism. Formerly on after Enron we got instant legislation. In his talk, Sarthe faculty of Cardiff University and a visiting professor of banes-Oxley: Legislating in Haste, Repenting at Leisure, history at Stanford in 2003, he is the author of numerous Bainbridge, professor of law at the University of California, books including The Third Reich: A New History. Los Angeles, discussed how recent legislation enacted followThis years retreat featured speakers who examined U.S. ing business scandals such as Enron is impeding business policy directions, upcoming elections, and ongoing conflicts development. from varied points of views. The author of A Wealth of Ideas: Revelations from the On Monday, May 1, Hoover senior fellow Michael Hoover Institution Archives, Bertrand Patenaude, also a McFaul appraised the central tenet of President Bushs Hoover research fellow, spoke about his book. A Wealth of foreign policy, that of spreading democracy around the

Hoover director John Raisian 8

Historian Michael Burleigh

Stephen Haber

O A R D

O F

V E R S E E R S

SPRING RETREAT
continued from page 8 Ideas draws on the extraordinarily rich collections of the Hoover Institution Library and Archives to illuminate and illustrate some of the most important ideas, individuals, and events of the twentieth century. The mind-sets and worldviews of terrorists were discussed by Shmuel Bar in The Islamic Conflict with the West: Fatwas and Strategies. Bar, who recently published Warrant for Terror: Fatwas of Radical Islam and the Duty of Jihad (Hoover Studies and Rowman and Littlefield, 2006), explained that fatwas provide legal and moral dispensation for acts of terrorism that are deemed to fulfill the duty of jihad. In his talk, Mexican Immigration, the Mexican Economy, and U.S. Policy, Stephen Haber, Hoover senior fellow, examined the pros and cons of the current situation. In his discussion he noted that there are facts to support those who are for immigration and those who oppose it. Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover senior fellow, who recently returned from the Middle East, spoke about his views in his talk, Iraq: What Went Right. Overall, he believes that the region is better off now than it was before the invasion by the United States. The retreat concluded with a panel discussion, Domestic Policy Agenda in the Short and Long Term: Is Stephen Bainbridge

There a Reason for Optimism between Now and 2008? Panel participants were Hoover senior fellows Michael Boskin, John Cogan, John Shoven, and John Taylor. In addition to the plenary speakers, Hoover fellows and guest speakers presented conversations on a variety of topics. The first set of conversations included Peter Berkowitz, Hoover senior fellow, Sharons Party and Israel after Sharon; Russell Berman, Hoover senior fellow, Europes War of Ideas: Religion, Terror, and Immigration; Peter Robinson, Hoover research fellow, Dubya and the Gipper: What the 43rd President Learned from the 40thand What He Didnt; and Kori Schake, Hoover research fellow, How to Confront Iran. The next set of conversations included Annelise Anderson, Hoover research fellow, and Martin Anderson, Hoover senior fellow, Reagan: A New Biography; Kenneth Jowitt, Hoover senior fellow, Potential Movements of Rage: Latin America; Abraham Sofaer, Hoover senior fellow, Should Israel Continue the Disengagement Process?; and Tunku Varadarajan, Hoover distinguished visiting fellow and editorial features editor at the Wall Street Journal, What on Earth Is the World? A Radical Reinterpretation of Foreign News (as seen by the Wall Street Journal). The final set of conversations included Lawrence Chickering, Hoover research fellow, Strategic Foreign Assistance; David Davenport, Hoover research fellow, Higher Education: A Diversity of Everything but Ideas; Alvin Rabushka, Hoover senior fellow, Taxes: Present, Past, and Future; and David Satter, Hoover research fellow, The Decline of Democracy in Russia. Major Garrett, Fox News

Victor Davis Hanson

Shmuel Bar

Bertrand Patenaude 9

O O V E R

I N

T H E

E W S

Instead of building an expensive, hideous, and probably ineffective Iron Curtain [at the United StatesMexico border], why not use the money to get this simple message across to kids in American high schools: If you flunk, youre sunk. Yes, boys and girls, academic achievement is the only route to decent employment in an economy at the top of the technological food chain. Drop out of education without qualifications, and youll be lucky to get a job alongside the Mexicans picking fruit or stacking shelves. Sounds kind of harsh, I know. But a second Great Depression sounds a lot harsher. I Niall Ferguson, senior fellow, Los Angeles Times, April 10 America welcomes more immigrants than any other country. But in keeping open that door of opportunity, we also must uphold the rule of law and enhance a fair immigration process, as Ronald Reagan said, to humanely regain control of our borders and thereby preserve the value of one of the most sacred possessions of our people: American citizenship. I Edwin Meese, distinguished visiting fellow, New York Times, May 24 Certainly textbooks should accurately portray society in all its complexity. But to impose contemporary political requirements on how the events are portrayed only ensures that the history we teach our students is inaccurate and dishonest. History books have already grown larger and duller to accommodate every groups demands. What the state should expect of publishers is that they produce books that are as honest and accurate as possible. Such narratives would be far likelier to instill humility, a recognition of human folly, an understanding of conflict and differences, and a sense of our common humanity rather than a sense of pride. I Diane Ravitch, senior fellow, Los Angeles Times, May 16 There is a new virtuous circle here: The International Monetary Fund has intervened in fewer crises in part because there are fewer crises to intervene in. And there have been fewer crises in part because of the expectation that the IMF will intervene less: Anticipating fewer large-scale loans from the IMF, countries have built up reserves and greatly improved monetary and fiscal policies. Lets not break that circle and go back to the bad old days. I John Taylor, Bowen H. and Janice Arthur McCoy Senior Fellow, Wall Street Journal, April 19

O O V E R

O N

T H E

I R
OOO Senior Fellow Michael McFaul was interviewed on ABCs World News Tonight on May 10 about Russian president Vladimir Putins recent criticism of United States foreign policy. OOO Research Fellow Shelby Steele was featured on News Weekend on KRONTV (Independent), San Francisco, on May 7 as he discussed his new book White Guilt and his work on race and social issues. He also was a guest on News and Notes with Ed Gordon on National Public Radio on May 5. OOO Research Fellow William Ratliff addressed the potential threat of Venezuela to the United States on KGO-AM (ABC) on May 30.

The death of terrorist Abu Musab AlZarqawi in June was the subject of commentary by a number of Hoover fellows. Speaking on his death and its consequences were Senior Fellow Thomas Henriksen on KGO-TV (ABC), San Francisco, and Abraham Sofaer, George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and National Security Affairs, on KNTV (NBC), San Francisco, on June 8. OOO Abraham Sofaer was quoted on KGOAM (ABC) morning news on June 13 on the formation of the new Iraqi government and the ability of its military to take more control. Sofaer also discussed alleged military misconduct on KGO-TV (ABC), San Francisco, on June 2.

OOO Negotiations with Iran to halt its nuclear development program were discussed by Victor Davis Hanson, the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow, on June 1 on the Big Story on the Fox News Channel. Research Fellow Abbas Milani discussed political struggles within Iran and its threats over nuclear capability on KTVU-TV (Fox), San Francisco, on June 5 and on KCBS-AM (CBS) radio, San Francisco, on June 6.

10

Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society in International Security by A. Lawrence Chickering, Isobel Coleman, P. Edward Haley, and Emily Vargas-Baron
ISBN: 0-8179-4712-4

The Struggle across the Taiwan Strait by Ramon H. Myers and Jialin Zhang
ISBN: 0-8179-4692-6

In Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society in International Security (Hoover Institution Press, 2006), Hoover fellow A. Lawrence Chickering and his coauthors examine the roles local civil society organizations (CSOs) could play in promoting change in countries that resist advice from other states and from international organizations. Chickering is a Hoover research fellow and founder and president of Educate Girls Globally, a CSO that promotes girls education in developing countries. Coauthors are Isobel Coleman, senior fellow, U.S. foreign policy, and director of the Women and U.S. Foreign Policy Program of the Council on Foreign Relations; P. Edward Haley, Wm. M. Keck Professor of International Strategic Studies at Claremont-McKenna College; and Emily Vargas-Baron, director of the Institute for Reconstruction and International Security through Education.

Hoover fellows Ramon Myers and Jialin Zhang have written in The Struggle across the Taiwan Strait a short, concise history that informs readers how China divided, in 1949, into two regimes that have struggled ever since to achieve increasingly incompatible political goals. The authors describe how, for more than a half century, competing authorities had struggled to unify China. Then, on March 18, 2000, a political earthquake shook Taiwan as Taiwans people elected a regime that championed a new belief system. Taiwan nationalism, as the authors refer to it, has locked both sides into a new contest that increases the probability of war rather than peace. Ramon H. Myers is a Hoover senior fellow whose most recent publication is as coeditor of Making China Policy: Lessons from the Bush and Clinton Administrations (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001). Jialin Zhang is a Hoover visiting scholar. He received his degree at the Moscow Institute of International Relations in 1960 and was a senior fellow at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies. He is also the coauthor of The Turnover of Political Power in Taiwan (2002).

OTHER RECENT BOOKS BY HOOVER FELLOWS

I How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution (Cato Institute) by Richard A. Epstein, the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow I The War of the World: Historys Age of Hatred (Allen Lane) by Senior Fellow Niall Ferguson I Uberpower (W. W. Norton) by Research Fellow Josef Joffe I Revolution in Orange (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) by Michael McFaul, the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow I White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era (HarperCollins) by Research Fellow Shelby Steele I When Ways of Life Collide: Multiculturalism and Its Discontents in the Netherlands (Princeton University Press) by Senior Fellow Fellow Paul Sniderman (with Louk Hagendoorn) I Libertarianism Defended (Ashgate Publishing) by Research Fellow Tibor Machan

11

ERIC HANUSHEK ELECTED TO MEMBERSHIP IN NATIONAL ACADEMY OF EDUCATION

enior fellow Eric A. Hanushek is one of three pioneers in educational research and policy development chosen for membership in the National Academy of Education. The appointments were announced on May 24 by Lorrie Shepard, president of the National Academy of Education. Also named were William H. Schmidt, codirector of the Education Policy Center and distinguished professor at Michigan State University, and Sidney Strauss, chairman of the Department of Education and professor of educational psychology at Tel Aviv University. Hanushek, the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow in Education at Hoover and a member of its Koret Task Force on K12 Education, was trained as an economist. He is widely recognized for his groundbreaking research on the multifaceted relationship between economics and education. For decades his work has been the launching pad for public debate that has had national implications

for U.S. education policy. His ongoing research spans a number of the most important areas of education policy, including the impact of high-stakes accountability, classsize reduction, and the importance of teacher quality. His most recent research has focused on the importance of teacher quality and on how the financing of schools can promote higher student achievement. He is a member of the National Board for Education Sciences. He has also been appointed to Governor Schwarzeneggers Advisory Committee on Education Excellence. The National Academy of Education, founded in 1965, is an honorary society that currently has 129 members and eight foreign associates. Total membership is limited to 150 scholars. Over the years its members have included such luminaries as anthropologist Margaret Meade and psychologist Jean Piaget.

HOOVER INSTITUTION STANFORD UNIVERSITY STANFORD, CA 94305-6010

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PA I D PERMIT NO. 114 PALO ALTO, CA

IDEAS DEFINING A FREE SOCIETY

investing in knowledge and scholarship